"Show me your hands," one of them ordered him.

Lance frowned but complied with his instructions, lifting both his arms. In his hands, he held his service pistol. He was running low on bullets, and he didn't have any spare ammo.

The men fanned out as they approached.

He focused his abilities, trying to find what the others were thinking.

Sophie was thinking. Had she not entered the room?

one of the new men thought. He may not trust Lance, even though they just met.

"Be at ease, gentlemen," Lance said. "I mean you no harm."

They slowly walked toward Lance without acknowledging him until they stood right next to him, almost like statues themselves. Lance noted that they were both wearing NYPD uniforms.

"My name is Lance Samson," he said honestly. "I'm a detective who was assigned to this station yesterday. I'm sorry to say that I don't know any of you, but I hope we can work together to survive this."

One of the men let out a sigh and shook his head. "Don't kid yourself, son. You're not an officer anymore. Nobody is."

The man lifted his weapon, aiming it at Lance.

"If you surrender your weapons, we won't shoot you," he said.

Lance hesitated. He wasn't sure what to do. Should he give up his gun? What if the man was lying? Would he be able to take on two armed men alone?

"I'm not going to hurt you," Lance told the man.

The man laughed. "That's what they all say."

"Look, I don't know you guys. I don't know anything about you. But I'm going to assume you're decent people. We can work together if you'll put down your guns."

The men exchanged glances.

"We're not cops anymore," the first man said.

"I'm not a cop either," Lance replied, "but I feel like we need to work together to survive this."

The men looked at each other again.

"Fine," said the second man. "Can you prove it to us?"

Lance sighed and rolled his eyes. "What do you want me to do?"

"You know what I mean," the man snapped.

Lance shifted uncomfortably. He knew exactly what the man meant. "How about this? If you put down your weapons, I'll show you my badge and ID card."

The man nodded and lowered his gun. Lance pulled out his wallet and showed them his identification. The men studied it carefully before returning their weapons to their holsters.

"You're a detective?" the first man asked.

"I am," Lance confirmed.

"And you're here because?"

"I was assigned to this station yesterday."

"Who assigned you?"

"I don't know. I was told to report to the precinct house."

The men exchanged glances again.

"Okay, we'll let you go," the second man said.

"Thank you," Lance replied.

They opened the door for him, and Lance stepped out into the hallway. He turned to thank them again, but they were gone.

"What the hell?" Lance muttered.

"The hell was that?" Sophie whispered, crouched in the hallway. "What the fuck did you say to them? Why are they already gone?"

"I don't know either," Lance said. "I wonder..."

He reached out with his ability. Or at least, he tried to.

[Mindread is on cooldown!]